EC2010 Final: Germany is the new European champion!

Category: European Championship - published 2010-07-31 by EFAF

Mission accomplished: Germany is the new European Champion. They beat France in the gold medal game in front of 8.523 spectators 26:10. Form the first snap on Germany tried to dominate the match, avoiding mistakes they made in their first two games against Austria and Finland. At the End Germany dominated France with their passing game as well as with their running game. Tournament-MVP Dennis Zimmermann threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns – two of them to his teammate from Braunschweig, WR Christian Bollmann. RB Danny Washington had a 100 yards rushing game, but no touchdown. For Team France WR Marco Soumah received the MVP honors. It was his last and final game as a football player. He will now concentrate on his role as president of the French federation FFFA.

In front of a home crowd of more than 8.500 spectators Germany was put into the favorite position. A pressure the “Men in black” could handle without any problems. Already in their first drive, Germany showed a balanced mixture between run-plays and pass-plays. Especially with his long passes to the tall German wide receivers QB Dennis Zimmerman was able to create an advantage for his team. Germany was very concentrated committed only some few penalties.

The first points were achieved by DT Dennis Roderig who sacked French QB Max Sprauel in his endzone, gaining a safety for Team Germany. On their next offensive possession Germany had the chance to increase the lead. But 19 years old K Jan Hilgenfeldt failed from 27 yards. A big play midway in the 2nd quarter brought the first touchdown for Germany. QB Dennis Zimmermann was able to connect a 75 yards pass to WR Christian Bollmann. The PAT failed.

France always tried to come back into the game. QB Max Sprauel used WR Marc Soumah and WR Jeremy Rabot as well as RB Laurent Marceline and Sandrion Octobre to find a better rhythm for his offense. Right before halftime – after a nice series of runs and passes – K Bruno Nekili was able to put points on the board. His field goal from 49 yards was good.

This score put a little bit of pressure on Team Germany. The “Fighting Frogs” from France showed that they were not willing to give up. But after halftime the defense for Germany was ready to take the battle. DB Lenny Green intercepted a pass which could have led to a French touchdown. On the following possession WR Christian Bollmann scored his 2nd touchdown of the evening and gave Germany 16 points lead. The lead was increased right on the next drive. Three deep passes from QB Dennis Zimmermann led into a 40 yards touchdown catch from WR Niklas Römer.

Germany slowed down a little bit, without losing control. RB Jerome Morris fumbled the ball on Germany’s 14-yard-line. DB Arnaud Vidaller picked up the ball and ran for 13 yards for the lone French touchdown this evening. In the last quarter both teams exchanged some punts and turnovers. And at the end Germany could celebrate his second European Championship. France won a medal in an important tournament for the first time in their long history.